...Jacob Maul, a Philadelphia Quaker, has been accused of murder after the body of his housekeeper, Lizzy Coons, was found on his property. An additionally damning complication for Maul—his second wife died under mysterious circumstances several years earlier. Unbeknownst to the Quaker, his greatest hope for acquittal lies with 79-year-old Benjamin Franklin. The beloved public figure, “the greatest man in America after General Washington,” believes in Maul’s innocence. Franklin enlists the assistance of family acquaintance and Revolutionary War veteran James Jamison to investigate Lizzy’s death. Despite his initial reluctance, Jamison is swayed by Franklin’s thoughtful arguments and agrees to take the case. McElroy offers an excellent whodunit, carefully crafting a range of suspects and dolling out numerous red herrings. The Holmes and Watson dynamic is apparent as the elder statesman parses out the clues and lectures on the importance of a method of inquiry. Franklin provides the financial backing and deductive reasoning while the more youthful Jamison spends his days tracking down information and suspects. Jamison is an endearing protagonist and a suitably straight-laced foil for the idiosyncratic Franklin, a Renaissance man with wide-ranging talents and intellect. And while Franklin tends to natter on, McElroy incorporates historical facts without lecturing readers. The depth of McElroy’s research and his background as a scholar is apparent throughout, both in his portrayal of 18th-century Philadelphians and Franklin in particular. McElroy subtly references Franklin’s ingenuity while also illuminating his quirky, appealing personality; for example, Jamison is summoned to a meeting with Franklin while the Founding Father soaks in a bathtub wearing a fur hat....

07/24/2017

Everyone in Philadelphia in September 1785 thinks Quaker stonecutter Jacob Maul is a murderer. How could there be any doubt? Two women have been found dead on his property--one of them in his bed--with bruise marks on their throats. The only person who comes to a different conclusion is the city's most famous citizen, Benjamin Franklin.

But at seventy-nine years of age, Franklin doesn't want to acquire a reputation for solving his neighbors' life and death problems. So he recruits maimed Revolutionary War veteran Captain James Jamison to collect information under his direction, in the hope of saving his Quaker friend from hanging.

Captain Jamison’s pursuit of the killer leads him in and out of Philadelphia’s taverns and slums, into its market houses, and as far afield as the university at Princeton and a remote farming region where everyone speaks German. Questioning informants as varied as a free black washerwoman, former Hessian mercenaries and the midwives of Southwark, James is assisted in his quest by Livy, the comely maidservant of his French grandmother.

But even with Franklin's genius and the help of his team, can he find the killer in time to save Jacob Maul's life?

07/16/2017

"Meticulously researched and tightly plotted, this novel works well on multiple levels. At first glance, it is a police-procedural before the invention: a mysterious murder, an obvious suspect, but a case that unravels quickly and leaves you wondering what exactly DID happen to Lizzie Coons?

"There's a bit of action, a bit of romance, and a lot of old-fashioned detective work (that wasn't yet old-fashioned in the 18th century). At another level, the book is a love story to the United States in its infancy, just after the end of the Revolutionary War. The descriptions of daily life, of political and social concerns, and of both cityscape and countryside will bring you back in time to when the nation was young, when endless possibilities lay just over the horizon, and colonists are just learning how to be Americans. I found myself keeping Google Maps open on my iPad next to my Kindle to trace the action through and around early Philadelphia.

"But at the highest level, this book is a celebration of one our most honored citizens, and one of the most remarkable men in history. The scenes with Benjamin Franklin sparkle with the character of the man, and his dialogue (much of it adapted from his Autobiography) comes off naturally, not forced or stilted.

Highly recommended, and since the ending seems perfectly set up for a sequel, I look forward to revisiting this world. -- Stephen Fleming on Amazon.com Read more reviews here.

COMING NEXT: THE SEQUEL to Benjamin Franklin and the Quaker Murders is already written! Title? "Benjamin Franklin and the Innocent Duelist." Cheers!

07/05/2017

***18*** reviews were posted for Benjamin Franklin and the Quaker Murders ON the FOURTH of JULY on Amazon.com, and 87% of reviewers give the novel 5-stars! If you love experiencing another time and place, want something patriotic to do, or just want to help us convene an audience for a fun, well-written book that’s a little outside the box (minimal gore and no explicit sex) please review Benjamin Franklin and the Quaker Murders and post your review on Amazon.com.